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Doolittle
Once a small town in Hidalgo County, Texas it has since seen the after-effects of a nuclear war, a Deathclaw infestation, attacks by hostile tribals, a brutal dictatorship and now is the headquarters for one of the premier law enforcement bodies North of the Rio Grande; The Cattlemen Safety Bureau or better know as the Doolittle Regulators. History Reign of Jock Stevens The town of Doolittle, Texas up to the Great War was a very sleepy, bedroom community with most of the residents either leaving town for work in the nearby town of McAllen or further up the road at the local Highway Patrol station either way the town had very little claim to fame other than a name that was derived from a World War Two war hero. However when the nukes did come in the Great War, and nearby McAllen was hit the small town of Doolittle suddenly lost half of its population as the town was basically leveled by the nuclear blast. Those citizens that worked at the nearby Highway Patrol quickly rushed home, some grabbing firearms and ammunition from the station in the craziness that followed the nuke. Once returning home they and their families were gathered together by then town Sheriff John Rennie and having no fallout shelter they were told to hunker down in their basements and wait for the all-clear from the town police. Those who had made preparations for such an attack promptly put on their gas masks and sat in their fortified basements, those that didn't were forced to try and survive the looting and rioting that followed the Great War along with the radiation that blew through town without much protections beyond a few layers of cement. Those who didn't have basements were forced to seek shelter elsewhere, in the resulting chaos the town suffered greatly, dropping from around 1,500 people to barely over 300 by the time November came around. In that time town Sheriff John Rennie died and his second in command, Jock Stevens was promoted to town Sheriff by default. As people cowered in their homes, some dying from radiation sickness, others from starvation and dehydration, Sheriff Stevens and his few remaining deputies along with a few deputized citizens fought to maintain order within the town and keep the gangs of ruffians out of the town. At some point during this time, Jock developed a neurosis (which may or may not have been caused by a tumor) of sorts, with protecting the town becoming his obsession. He declared that he would take any step necessary to protect the townspeople, even if it meant facing down the hordes of looters and desperadoes on his own. This neurosis quickly grew to the point where he was suffering delusions, however, his bravery and determination to stick to his duty had impressed his deputies and the townsfolk to the point where they stood behind him. In December, Jock had the townspeople emerge from their dwellings and re-inhabit their old homes, from there he asserted once and for all that he was the town's Sheriff and de facto ruler, with his deputies backing him up. The town accepted his authority and attempted to return to their old lives, however without power, running water or basic sanitation life became rather hard for the people as they were forced to eat irradiated food stuff or hunt down the few remaining animals and drink dirty water. These hardships again dropped the town population to about 115 people. It was after the Cholera outbreak of early 2078 that Jock began to ration water to the townsfolk, ensuring that the water that was handed out was at the least boiled to try and remove some of the parasites that lived within. he also established a sort of community farming project, having the town park dug up for a vegetable patch, where the town grew corn, beans, tomatoes and anything else they could squeeze out of the ground. The first crop was meager and most of the food was bad, but when the town began to use fertilizer from a nearby hardware store they were able to get a better crop out of the patch the next year. By the time 2080 had rolled around the town was surviving on the meager crops they could grow and the animals they could hunt. However, Jock's mental condition had continued to deteriorate and he began to suffer from delusions. Eventually Sheriff ordered the town to be locked down, people were to stay inside for most of the day and those who were caught outside after dark were suspected of attempting to spread seditious ideas and thus would be killed on site. From that point on Jock kept one of his fanatically devoted deputies up in the town's church steeple with a rifle, with orders to kill anyone caught out after dark. Having gotten the town's emergency power generator running he had most of the power diverted to a series of spot lights he had mounted on the church steeple and atop the police station so that his men could better survey the streets at night. During the day he had the townsfolk working on building a stockade around the town, tearing apart abandoned homes, old cars and anything else they could cannibalize for building materials, alongside this was a series of guard towers so that his deputies could watch the walls. Eventually when the town had been enclosed in a ramshackle wall and the interior had been turned into a virtual police state that trouble began to brew. It began when a the Morgans, a small family of five decided they wanted to leave town and managed to sneak out in the dead of night. Jock found out about this and ordered a group of his deputies to chase down the Morgans and either bring them back or put them down. The deputies took off on some old motorcycles they had managed to keep in operation. Sirens blaring, and motors roaring they caught up with the Morgans who attempted to defend themselves, for their actions they were killed by the deputies who dragged their corpses back to Doolittle behind their bikes. Upon seeing their neighbor's mangled corpses the townsfolk decided they had had enough of their Sheriff and his cronies. Thus they began to plot to overthrow their beloved Sheriff. Stockpiling whatever weapons they could come across they quickly had formed a small fighting force to take on the Sheriff and his deputies and thus set off to do that. In late 2086 the townsfolk rose from their beds and attacked the Sheriff and his men, in the ensuing battle twelve people were killed and the Sheriff and his men were deposed from power. With the fall of Jock Stevens the town promptly elected a new Sheriff and set about rebuilding the town, and lynching the surviving deputies. Eventually the town returned to a semblance of normalcy with their new Sheriff; Michael Shultz leading to a time of peace. Deathclaw Infestation The town of Doolittle survived for several years living in relative peace with its neighbors but that quickly changed with the infestation of Deathclaws that occurred in 2110. The first signs of trouble came about a month before when guards manning the towers began to notice and increased number of Deathclaws roaming about the wastes outside of town, things only progressed from there with trade caravans coming in with wounded or maimed guards and then finally with the arrival of the pack, the town was completely cut off. At first it was thought that they would survive off the food they could grow inside the walls and whatever animals they could snag until the pack eventually moved on. However the pack didn't move on and soon there was a shortage of food and water within the town as the Deathclaws hunted down and killed most of the nearby wildlife. To make matters worse some of the Deathclaws had begun to wander close to the town walls, and had even made a few attempts to get inside and each day they would return with more of the pack as they continued to claw at the wall. Eventually the situation got dire enough that Sheriff Shultz resolved to send out a party to get to the nearby town of Mercedes and seek help from the locals. The next day, while the Sheriff and some of the townsfolk made a distraction on the North side of town the help party fled South towards Mercedes. However after three days the party had yet to return and the townsfolk feared the worst when they were spotted moving along the road towards the town, after arriving in town the survivors of the party presented Sheriff Shultz with the solution to their problems, a Fat Man. Armed with the Fat Man and three Mini-Nukes the Sheriff and his Deputies decided to use the Fat Man to kill the Deathclaw Den Mother and the pack's Alpha Male. Moving out with a few volunteers from the town, the Deputies headed towards the nesting area, shooting their way past several of the beasts along the way. After coming upon the Alpha Male they promptly fired the mini-nuke at him and watched as the massive Alpha Male shrugged off the blast, sending another nuke into the Alpha Male finally managed to stop the Alpha Male's advance but not before he had torn apart three of the Sheriff's party. Reloading the Fat Man with their final mini-nuke they set off for the nest and the Deathclaw Den Mother, coming upon her and her young standing outside the cave they used as a nest. Firing upon the younglings they had quickly cut down the meek little Deathclaws, sending the Deathclaw Mother into a rage. In the resulting fight half of the party was killed by the Deathclaw Mother but they were only able to kill her after expending most of their ammunition into her form. The remains of the party returned to Doolittle and with the roads now open, caravans and cattle drives could began to return to the town, and the Fat Man was placed into the town's armory. Lipan War One of the many issues Doolittle faced was the threat of Lipan warbands attacking the town's valuable trade routes and the town itself. Despite some friendly relations with tribes led by the likes of Chief Blue Jacket the majority of the tribes that lived in the area of Doolittle were hostile to outsiders and thus had conflicted with the town and the Sheriffs Office quite a bit. However one Lipan chief was determined to see Doolittle razed to the ground, his name of Chief Manzarin or "The Man Eater" as many locals called him, after his penchant for devouring prisoner's hearts. Manzarin's deep seeded hatred for the town of Doolittle was the result of his Father being killed by a posse led by the current Sheriff; Michael Shultz against his tribe after they raided the town's trade routes. Yet it had been five years since Sheriff Shultz had died of septic shock as the result of a gunshot wound, and his successor Sheriff Jon Hammonds was actually a member of Blue Jacket's tribe, if a bit divorced due to his acceptance of mainstream society. However he had been elected Sheriff and was far friendlier to the Lipan then Shultz had been and as a result was able to maintain some relationships with the various tribes in Hidalgo County. However, Manzarin had no such illusions about being friends with the "White Man" and had his sights set on seeing Doolittle burn. It started with a few raids along the caravan routes and progressed to assaulting the town walls, killing guards at night and launching festering corpses into the town walls to spread disease. However the town was able to weather this torrent of attacks and fight back skillfully. Eventually Chief Manzarin and his braves were able to break into the town after blasting the town gate off its hinges with black powder charges. Inside the town the Chief and his surviving braves fought a brutal, close quarters battle with Sheriff Hammonds and his deputies plus a few civilians. The battle went on for several hours but in the end, Chief Manzarin and his surviving braves were killed, however 22 people were left dead, including several children and women. The battle in the end changed the town's perception of the Lipan forever and the next week Sheriff Hammonds hired a band of mercenaries and had them chase off the remains of Chief Manzarin's tribe, the result being a small mountain of slain Lipan women, children and elderly, however no one in Doolittle raised an eyebrow or shed a tear, to them the tribals were simply degenerates that had their fate coming. Present There came a day in late 2240 when a young cowhand came limping into town with a bullet in his side and a gang of cattle rustlers on his trail. Sheriff Hammonds helped the man into town and with his deputies, chased off the cattle rustlers. The young man's name was Thaddeus Keating, he and the cattle drive he had been a part of had just crossed the Rio Grande when they had been jumped by a group of cattle rustlers, in the resulting ambush most of the cowhands were killed. The men that had been escorting the drive had been Rangers from Valle Hermoso, however upon reaching the river they had turned around, thus leaving the drive without guards. The effects of the ambush and the realization that Texas was completely devoid of Lawmen beyond local constabularies brought him to found the Cattlemen's Safety Bureau, an organization meant to keep the various cattle trails of Texas safe along with going after Cattle Rustlers and anyone who supports or funds them. Since the foundation of the Bureau the town has been subject to raids by various gangs and outlaws including one punitive attack by mercenaries hired by the Falfurrias Cattlemen's Association, however since the Bureau use the town as a headquarters many drovers and merchants have seeked shelter and safety within the walls, thus bringing more business to the town's vendors and shops. Government Cattlemen's Safety Bureau & Sheriff's Office The town Sheriff and the Chairman of the Cattlemen's Safety Bureau often cooperate in both prosecuting operations against outlaws outside the town limits but when it comes to jurisdiction within the town, the Sheriff and his deputies have prevalence, even having the power to arrest members of the Bureau. That said, the town is run by the Sheriff who usually enforces laws as well as put new laws in front of a council of town elders for passage. Economy Tavern & Coaching Inn Due to the amount of caravan and carriage traffic that moves through town, Doolittle sports a Coaching Inn and Tavern. The Tavern; The Three Pistol Saloon, serves almost everyone who passes through town, along with some of the locals and has gained regional notoriety for the various gunfights that have taken place within, for the famed desperadoes that have been serviced there and the fact that it is supposedly haunted by a former working girl that had been killed by her abusive lover. However the tavern caters to just about anyone, with cheap beer and hard liquors, beautiful working girls and is usually filled with all manner of prospectors, drovers, mercenaries and outlaws. To add, above the bar is an inn where anyone tired after a long days ride, or after too many beers can rest their head and enjoy some pleasent company. Caravans Caravans and Cattle drives all seek shelter within Doolittle, both for a hot meal and a cold drink but also to find some much needed shelter from Comancheros and Rustlers. Within the town wall is a corral for cattle and horses along with a Brahmin cage for merchants and their pack brahmin to spend the night and not have to worry about the threat of robbery. It is because of this type of facilities that many Caravan companies have at least an office in town from which they can direct caravan activities, to add many cattlemen will seek the help of the Bureau for either providing protection going up the trail or getting help to clear out a particularly nasty band of Comancheros. However the town has few, if any indigenous caravans, and thus is reliant of the business of those caravans that pass through town to help keep their economy strong. Mercenaries The Tejano Company The Tejano Company is a band of mercenaries that has recently migrated to Southern Texas from the Corpse Coast, having lost a majority of its contracts and work to the various gangs of the Corpse along with being on the losing end of a war with the Geist Korps convinced the Tejano Company's commander; Allan Coey to move his operations elsewhere. Having heard of a violent warzone down South of the border he intended to move him men down there to restart their business, but instead found work right on the border escorting caravans and cattle drives. The Tejanos are a generally upright group of mercenaries, and are known for their reliablity and skills at scouting. They number about 70 men. Rio Bravo Contracting Firm Unlike their Tejano counter parts the Rio Bravo Contracting Firm was founded locally by a group of disaffected hired guns who were later joined by some "reformed" slavers and rogue Lipan warriors. This combination led to the Rio Bravo Contracting Firm or RBCF to gain a fearsome reputation as a dangerous band of mercenaries who would do just about anything they were asked to do by their employers, and thus they have a few slaughtered villages, and massacred caravans under their belts to prove their determination to their bosses. Numbering about 80 men and women the RBCF is the downside to the mercenary business, looking only for caps and not caring what it takes to get them. Bounty Hunting Naturally with the limitations placed on the members of Doolittle's local constabulary and the Bureau there is a need to hire temporary lawmen to help hunt down the various petty crooks and robbers that plague Doolittle but don't pose a big enough threat for the Sheriff and his men to pursue. Thus dozens of would be lawmen are given a bronze star and a bounty and told to return when they have the man collected, while acting as a Bounty Hunter for the Sheriff's Office they have the ability to help prosecute warrants, make arrests and pursue criminals in the name of the Law. However most Bounty Hunters who work for the Sheriff either spend their time jawing in the Three Pistols or hanging around Scoundrel's Den, a large cave where outlaws and criminals can go to hideout and relax away from the prying eyes of the law. Culture Due to the amount of foot traffic that flows through Doolittle one is likely to hear stories from one of the various merchants, cowboys, herders and mercenaries that have stopped in at the Three Pistols. One of the most famous stories told in the old saloon is the story of Haley McGoran, a working girl that had the misfortune of having to pleasure the infamous outlaw and cattle rustler; Augustus Armstark. Prior to his death in a duel in Colonia Tamaulipas, Augustus had spent some time in Doolittle enjoying the hospitality of the Three Pistols. However for poor Haley, Augustus was in a rage the night he had paid her and during the night she was found blungeoned to death in Augustus' room. However the Three Pistols' owner; Stich Mo'gan decided that such a death in his saloon would bring unwanted attention from the law and thus had poor Haley buried down in the saloon's basement. It is said that her restless soul still haunts the Three Pistols. Another famous story the town has produced is the duel between Bart Marlowe and Sheriff Jon Hammonds. Marlowe was a local thief and gunslinger who had made it a habit to go about the streets of Doolittle challenging every gun hand that came into town to a duel and was known to place bets with onlookers on the duel. However, Bart was a known cheat and would always draw in such a manner that it'd catch the other gunfighter before the count down had finished but still make it look like he had drawn first. The Sheriff eventually grew tired of his cheating and went to arrest Bart, however Bart had amassed a small group of followers and when the Sheriff showed up on his lonesome Bart, cocky as ever, refused to oblige the Sheriff and then challenged the Sheriff to a duel. To which the Sheriff answered by shooting Bart in the gut and killing two of his followers, sending the others scampering to the corners. The Sheriff then promptly let Bart bleed to death, and then hung his corpse upside down outside the town with a sign labeling him as a cheat. However the most famous story about the town is the story of the Battle of Doolittle. Much like the Battle of Blair Mountain, or the gunfight at O.K Corral the Battle of Doolittle is more fiction than fact. The story goes that a religeous, doomsday cult known as the Teeth of Cain had rolled into town with the clear objective of destroying the town and killing everyone in it for their "sins". Numbering 51 cultists they rode into town, shooting and hollering, dragging the remnants of their last victim along behind their horses. Well as the story goes, the Sheriff and his deputies were outnumbered and were being wittled down by the fighting when the town rallied around their red man Sheriff and managed to hold the Teeth of Cain at bay, then just as they seemed to be losing again the clouds (it had been raining) opened up and people swore that they saw an Archangel descend from heaven and inspired the Sheriff and the town to beat back the cult. Those cultists who survived, were promptly hung and their corpses burned. Category:Places Category:Communities Category:Texas